Mimaki will participate at Texprocess and Techtextil, Germany, May 9 to 12, 2017. The manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting systems will showcase its TS300P-1800 with sublimation inks and the Tx300P-1800 printer with pigment inks during the large-format inkjet printing step of the micro-factory, involving sublimation printing on polyester and pigment printing on cotton and mixed fibers.

Both have been developed for the textile print industry. The TS300P-1800 wide format, high-speed dye sublimation textile printer delivers cost-effective printing while maintaining high quality and productivity and is designed to print onto the thinnest of transfer paper. The Tx300P-1800 direct textile inkjet printer delivers high-quality printing on a wide range of textiles and is ideally suited for applications such as fashion, furnishing, soft signage and exhibitions.

Texprocess serves the international garment-manufacturing and textile processing industry while Techtextil brings together technical textiles and nonwovens showing the full range of potential uses of textile technologies. The events will allow Mimaki to demonstrate its textile inkjet print technologies and educate a wide audience. There will be a roundtable discussion on high speed dye sublimation printing which will explain the difference between sublimation transfer and direct dye sublimation printing, and how each technology can be beneficial for home textiles and interior design.

Soorty Denim, a well know integrated denim manufacturer from Pakistan, has been given the Hightex innovation award for its new Denim Active concept at the Keyhouse event, during Munich Fabric Start last month. The new concept dims the border between casual wear and sportswear, linking the two lifestyles.

“Denim Active” contains Coolmax eco-made® fiber which ensures moisture management and is made from 97 per cent recycled resources such as plastic bottles. While working out, body temperature increases, Coolmax helps to evaporate sweat, it keeps cool and dry. The 360 degree stretch in a light weight fabric allows one to make free body movements. Denim Active is soft and comfortable yet still maintains the actual denim look and feel in a specially engineered second skin silhouette.

The new Keyhouse is a revolution and proficiency centre for textiles, presenting future-oriented and business-related concepts in a concentrated manner. This collaborating trade fair format forms a backdrop for smart textiles, future fabrics and technologies, with a high degree of integration in textile products and high fashion. Pioneering showcases, sustainability and new technologies are put in the spotlight in this trade fair area in the context of cross-sector macro trends, rounded off by expert workshops and seminars on trends, technology, finishing and research.

With the segment proving to be resilient amid the country's challenging retail environment due to shifting consumer behaviour and preferences for more differentiated shopping concepts, China's sportswear industry should see continued expansion over the next few years, says the Fitch Ratings.

Following the issues of store overexpansion and excess inventory having been resolved since 2012Both international and domestic brands have benefited from the expansion of China's sportswear industry which Fitch accredits to increased investment and higher sports participation.

The State Council aims to develop China's sports industry to CNY5 trillion by 2025 and increase the area available for practising sports. Greater interest in fitness and sports has also become more apparent with more people taking an interest in running, for instance that a total of 328 marathons were registered through the Chinese Athletic Association in 2016.

This attracted approximately 2.8 million participants, and representing an increase of 85 per cent compared with the previous year. Likewise, according to a news report the number of participants at private gyms across China's 70 major cities has increased by 4 to 5 million each year since 2011.

The China market is led by international brands adidas and Nike. While adidas reported over 20% constant currency growth for China in 2016, Nike also saw double digit growth in Greater China.

However, Fitch believes local brands can also benefit, since they offer consumers a competitive value-for-money proposition. For instance, local brand 361 Degrees International Limited (BB/Stable) saw over 7 per cent y-o-y same-store sales growth in 2016 and its trade-fair orders for 3Q17 achieved a high single-digit increase.

Linking their efforts to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as many as seventy one companies have got themselves up to the mark and put their names forward for benchmarking against their peers and competitors in the Textile Exchange Preferred Fibre & Materials (PFM) Benchmark programme.

61 per cent of companies have set targets for switching to a more sustainable source of cotton, three quarters having a specific target for organic.

Said Liesl Truscott, Materials Strategy Director for Textile Exchange, millions of people including cotton farmers, foresters and other textile feedstock providers form the base of the textile supply network and are impacted by the decisions brands and retailers make every day. Influencing improvement in fibre and material production is one of the greatest opportunities textile brands and retailers can contribute to securing a sustainable future.

Preferred is another way of saying more sustainable. Textile Exchange defines a preferred fibre or material (PFM) as one that is ecologically and socially progressive and has been selected because it has more sustainable properties in comparison to conventional options.

The mix of fibres in your product range can be just as important as the sustainability profile of each fiber,” Truscott added.

Textile Exchange recommends a portfolio approach building a suite of preferred fibre and materials from a choice of preferred options by way of the consideration of impacts and product range priorities. The goal is that PFMs are produced to a globally accepted standard, with strict criteria that qualifies the product as preferred, and can be traced through the supply chain.

One of the partnership is with the Appachi ECO-LOGIC Cotton Project in India which brings together a value chain from the farmers to the customers. The key is the partnership and working together – and we see this as pivotal for the entire industry. Seventy one companies, up from 57 last year, ranging from Adidas to Woolworths, completed a bespoke online survey and have received confidential company feedback reports revealing their individual results.An Industry report containing the combined results of all participating companies will be released this week.